I had a really bad scare today. I've been chasing a slight driveline vibration while coasting and thought it was simply time for u-joints. While I was underneath the car changing the clutch master cylinder I happened to look at the driveshaft.
1 bolt was MISSING and the other 3 were all backed out!
I have NO idea how this happened as they were all torqued-to-spec with a 2-year old Snap-On torque wrench. It really freaked me out that I was THIS close to having a driveshaft disconnect.
PLEASE, go check your cars. ESPECIALLY if you've ever had to pull the driveshaft for any reason. Mine was last out 10,000 miles ago!
I am now adding the driveshaft bolts to my 3,000 mile checklist (Change oil and filter, check air filter, check brake fluid, check clutch fluid, check belts, check hoses, check coolant, check lugnuts, check driveshaft bolts).
Good call Mike. Glad to hear your ok and so is the car. Mine was last out when I did the flexplate change. And though it's not driven, I'll go check for sure
uh, ever heard of "loc-tite"? that's what the factory uses, and should be applied EVERY time you pull the driveshaft off. ring gear bolts should have some type of thread locker, too.
I used red lock-tite on mine, but I'm still checking.
loc-tite for the win!
yeah I had that happen. Lost two bolts though. Use lock tite. that is the only way to be sure they will stay in. especially if you drive it hard like I do.
And HOW many people told me I was foolish and wasting my time to loc-tite my DS bolts?!
This may sound stupid but at 80km/h my steering wheel shakes, it stops when I get to 85. So could that be the result of a loose bolt?
no, that's more likely your front tires being out of balance.... if you go fast enough, even an out of balance tire will stop shaking..... any type of rear end or drivetrain vibration should be felt in your seat, not in the steering wheel
Thanks, I just had a tire mounted on the rear rim but I guess they were too lazy to balance the fronts. I even paid 30 bucks. :beatyoass:
meh, a bad u-joint is felt throughout the entire car. steering wheel shakes during acceloration (any time at all), the wheel lessesns but the intense shaking is still felt throughout the car. i replaced my ujoints in september... thanks for the heads up!!!!
Witch loc-tite did you use? Green? Blue? Red? I've used the red and the blue. The red stuff is for stuff you don't want to come apart. The blue is if you want to take it apart again. Not sure about the green. I always check that when ever I'm under the car. I'm already there and it only take a couple of minutes.
Red Loctite. Name brand "Loctite". New tube when I did it.
then maybe you didnt use enough, or prep the thread surfaces correctly. ive never had a problem using loctite, and why didnt you mention that you actually used it in your 1st post?
The driveshaft and were cleaned with degreaser and a brush. The bolts were new. The loctite was new. I wouldn't have a made a big deal about this if it wasn't unusual.
I cut/pasted the original post and simply didn't get the line about the loctite.
Why are you such an @$$ to everybody?
Ahh, new bolts & clean surfaces - that probably contributed to the loostening. The old rusty old bolts seem to lock in place pretty well for me - I've had the D/S off no less than 15 times in the past 8 years. I did find one bolt not super tight once, but that was because they are so ed difficult to tighten at times and I slacked it. Definitely use loctite though! I never have, but like I said - my bolts are quite snug with surface rust :D
So the "too" clean problem, eh?
Anything particularly special about your driveshaft that someone might have tried to steal it? Gold u-joints? Diamond bearings?
No. I think we determined that the new bolts might not have been up to snuff or maybe I didn't put the driveshaft back on the in the same spot. I now have 4 original bolts (cleaned up) with red loctite in there.
I had the same thing happen to my 88 two years ago. I didn't even feel a vibration, though - I fluked into the problem when getting the car safety inspected (the mechanic doing the inspection didn't even notice it, I did). I'd never had the drive shaft out, so it must have been the previous owner. I reinstalled 'em with red Loctite and they stayed put until I did the rear swap this past winter. Red loctite is designed to be "permanent" but it will release with a bit of heat (not even a lot of heat - I think the tube says "450 degrees", quite attainable with a propane torch). Don't even think of trying to remove the bolts without heat though - they would not even budge for me.
same geat application goes for some of your drive shaft ujoints usually in pickups. there will be a hole in each knuckle that is filled with some sort of plastic which was in liquid form at the factory. when it dries,, its done,,, no ujoint coming out with simple tools. You gotta heat that mother up till it all melts out or just live with the vibration.
ive never had this problem with loc tite,,, matter of fact, ignore torque specs for ds bolts,, just fugging tighten them mothers up with a breaker bar and the correct 12/16pt socket.
now on drive shafts with reguard to pickups i mentioned,, if you dont know how to put a drive shaft back "in phase" you will not keep bolts in nor will you ever be able to get rid of vibration until you learn this. Typically this applies to a two piece drive shaft with a CV joint and possibly a carrier.
hes never been a @$$ to me. i suppose he and i were wondering the same thing,, why didnt you find it note worthy to say "and i even used loc-tite"
just an observation,, i wouldnt have brought it up but now that is was, i agree people should know even with loc-tite this happend.
perhaps your problem might be found at the flair nut on that roundy do hicky that your ds attaches to on the rear end. that nut is kind of a one time use "cursh" or "flair" type nut. if its loose needs snugged, this my be why it happened. Id say you might wanna check play in that input to the rear end. you could take the nut out and beat the end of it inward evenly around the tappered end and see if that helps if you find it loose. engage your emergency brake while fooling with this or your lible to roll the car on top of yourself.
nevertheless,, when good ole loc-tite isnt available,, ding up the threads in the middle of the bolt and they will stay put,,,, or as said,,,, a little rust goes a long way also.
Hey Mike, just wanted to thank you for posting this. When I rebuilt the Trac-Lok this past weekend I remembered this post. Sure enough, 1 of the bolts was backed halfway out, and another was very loose. I tightened them good, and will apply loc-tite next week when I get a chance.
well i guess ill locktite my new driveshaft bolts whenever i get the old ones out:hick:
cross-threadin's tight isnt it??